The government is responding to critics who want to make the information commissioner’s order-making powers immediate, and scrap a requirement that requesters detail the time period, subject, and type of document.

Treasury Board President Scott Brison appears at the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee during its examination of Bill C-58 on Oct. 3. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

After pushback from Indigenous groups and the information commissioner, the government is backing down on a number of changes proposed to the Access to Information Act, calling on Senators to make the friendly amendments during their study of the bill that critics have called “regressive.”

The Liberals will be under attack from all sides in the next election campaign, but Liberals say they have a good story to tell and some say they need to sharpen up their communications strategy before it's too late.